A question about 'learning environments' or classrooms

[SarfEast1cated]

Sorry for bombarding you all with my questions, I just prefer your opinions to those I have seen on the TES boards. Feel free to ignore me.
As you may know I have new job as an NQT in a local school. The school prides itself on its displays in communal areas (which are lovely) but I am also expected to follow school guidelines (8 pages document) for my classroom. Almost every surface needs to be covered in informations and laminated and backed on different coloured card.
To me (a layperson really), the classrooms look really busy and covered in stuff. Do children absorb all of this information, or do you think that they (as I would) just blank it all out?
I will (of course) follow the guidance of my schools, but wondered what you thought. I would really appreciate your opinions, or recommended papers on the subject.

A propos the "learning environment" AKA classroom, in my last UK school the new HT did a report that commented on the need for "vision panels", or windows in classroom doors as they were formerly known.:o

For my upcoming class (year 3 equivalent I think?) I am planning on:

Birthday display
Free writing prompt area
Compliment cards area
Class rules
Irish area
English area
Timeline
Featured work area
Picture corner of things the class have done over the year
Theme board

And some poems we cover during the year, tables posters put up as we revise them etc. Maths stuff we have done before. Maybe a few vocab cards/ grammar cards as we cover them.

But no random shite to go up at the start of the year, that they never actually look at. I've made that mistake in previous years. Now, I just whack a heading on the Irish/ English/ theme boards and add as needed. And themed classrooms, or crazy 3D displays. I see huge displays from UK teachers all the time on Facebook groups, and while I'm impressed, it doesn't actually seem to benefit the learning - and takes up hours. These people go in at all hours, it's madness.

I do like a good Pinterest fluffy pom-pom though

This week I visited a brand new, state of the art school. Beautiful design, interiors. V calm, quiet and comfortable. And no crap on the walls or dangling from the ceiling!

Having said that op, as an nqt you probably have to go along with it. If you've a fairly senior class, some of them might love designing displays - I used to swap the displays during break and a few always wanted to stay in and help. They were better at it than I was, tbh.

I am not a teacher but I love branding and visual stuff. I don't think laminating is good. It makes stuff too shiny to see a lot of the time and it isn't recyclable. I know as an NQT you can't go in telling them how to do it but you sound like you have your head screwed on. Good luck.

I used to swap the displays during break and a few always wanted to stay in and help. They were better at it than I was, tbh. I'm like Liadain. In fact, the kids are MUCH better than me at putting up displays.

SeekingSugar, that school sounds lovely and calming!

Liadain
For my upcoming class (year 3 equivalent I think?) I am planning on:
Birthday display

My school goes from 2 to 18 but I teach in the secondary part. One of the rules in EYFS, infants and primary (and it would apply to secondary, only we don't do them) is no birthday displays. I assumed it was so that children who don't celebrate birthdays don't feel excluded, but a friend said it was for safeguarding. But I never followed up. Your post reminded me of this.

Are they allowed in everyone else's school?

I don't teach in the UK, so it wouldn't apply to me anyway. The birthday things are common enough in Irish classrooms anyway, from what I've seen - but I just put names on the month anyway, rather than exact date.

They must be a thing in some schools at least I assume, Twinkl etc have materials for them and I've seen them up on the teaching Facebook groups.

Can't see how a birthday display would affect safeguarding, they're a staple of most infant classrooms.

mine is so I don't forget any birthdays

Thanks for the replies. I've seen them in many other schools. I'm abroad so possibly it is a child protection measure in this country.

LockedOutOfMN - it sure is. I've never seen such a high level of engagement across all areas of the school. The students were pretty much running the place

Mt Head doesn't allow bluetac on the walls so that really limits how much display there can be. I think the school looks much better for it. Some of the classrooms do have the dreaded danglers though and there are lines on purpose for this. Best use I've seen of those if for 'learning ladders' where examples of outcomes at different levels are displayed for the piece of work the chn are currently doing so they can aim 'one rung up'.

We do have big, 3D displays but they are all in the corridors. The school is physically massive (420 kids- but built with BSfF money so more sqft per child than usual) with really wide corridors so we have space for the big displays outside classrooms.

As an NQT, please just follow the rules blindly while you establish yourself and pass the NQT year. Don't raise your head above the parapet.
I speak as an experienced EY teacher who does not believe a very 'busy', multicoloured, 'in your face' classroom is the best for learners. However at one point I worked in a school where displays were a big thing, and the other EY teacher had garlands and danglers and window and door displays. I tried to explain my thinking and the research behind a less visually noisy classroom and thought all was OK, only to have a BIG dressing down from the head who was worried how it looked to parents and thought my minimal displays were because I was being lazy.

www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/heavily-decorated-classrooms-disrupt-attention-and-learning-in-young-children.html

Have a look at this www.salford.ac.uk/cleverclassrooms